Sara Poole

Sara Poole (born 1951) - “Sara Poole” is a pseudonym for the well-known Romance author, Maura Seger. She adopted it when she began a series of historical thrillers based on the Borgia family in Renaissance Italy. The main protagonist, Francesca Giordano, is the non-Jewish official Poisoner of the Borgia family (what can you say? It’s a living) in Rome, who becomes involved in saving the Jewish community of Rome from expulsion by the aging Pope. She is deeply connected to the Jewish community through her late father’s contacts and her own empathy for their plight. Her investigation frequently takes her into the labyrinthine Jewish ghetto, many of whose inhabitants are recent refugees from the Spanish Inquisition. The novel is set in summer, 1492. Rocco is a talented Jewish glassblower living in Rome’s ghetto. He is Francesca’s “old friend” and develops into a romantic interest. He holds “secrets to hide” and provides Francesca with critical support and information during her investigation into her father’s murder.

Poole, Sara, (Poison: A Novel of the Renaissance [pb, St. Martin’s Griffin, 2020] 978-0312609832